Historical News and Views from the Empire State

Menu

NYS Library’s September Noontime Programs

In September, the New York State Library will offer three noontime author talks and book signings. On Wednesday, September 9th, Mark Jodoin will discuss his book “Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada,” which tells the stories of ten young men and women who were forced to flee north, into what became Ontario and Quebec, because they remained loyal to the British government. On Wednesday, September 16, Dr. Margaret Lynch-Brennan will discuss her new book, “The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930,” one of the first books written on Irish servant girls. And on Wednesday, September 23, Michael Esposito, author of “Troy’s Little Italy (Images of America),” will talk about the Italian immigrants who settled in Troy, beginning in the late 1880s, and the community they created there. All programs run from 12:15 to 1:15 and are free and open to the public.Sept. 9: Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada

In 1778, New York State patriots forced colonists loyal to the British government to flee north into what became Ontario and Quebec. Many of the defiant young British Americans soon returned south as soldiers, spies and scouts to fight for their multigenerational farms along the Mohawk River, Lake Champlain and the Hudson River Valley. Eventually defeated, they were banished from their ancestral homelands forever. Mark Jodoin, author of the book Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada offers an enlightened look back at ten young men and women who were forced north into what became Ontario and Quebec, sharing the struggles that these Loyalists faced during our nation’s founding.

“Bridget” was the Irish immigrant servant girl who worked in American homes from the second half of the nineteenth century into the early years of the twentieth century. She was widely known as a pop culture cliché: the young Irish girl who wreaked havoc working as a servant in middle-class American homes. Many contemporary Irish-American families can find one or more of these Irish Bridgets in their background. Come hear Dr. Margaret Lynch-Brennan discuss her new book, “The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930.” This is the first book to be written on Irish servant girls. This program will be held in the Huxley Theater on the first floor of the Cultural Education Center.

Sept. 23: Troy’s Little Italy

Italian immigrants began arriving in Troy in large numbers in the late 1880s, escaping the abject poverty of their homeland. They settled among Irish immigrants who had arrived fifty years earlier in Troy’s first and eighth wards just south of the central business district, an area bustling with activity. The neighborhood contained blocks of two and three story brick buildings, a mix of row houses and free standing homes. Within a few years, these Italian immigrants began opening small businesses, particularly on Fourth Street, the neighborhood’s “Main Street,” and it was typical of the mixed residential and commercial communities in many American cities. Michael Esposito will discuss the neighborhood and its people from his new book “Troy’s Little Italy.”